2013 Theses Doctoral

Do I Want to Work with You in the Future? Does Status Moderate the Process by Outcome Interaction in Ongoing Workplace Relationships?

Haferd, Thomas

The present study was designed to extend prior research on the joint and interactive effects of: (1) process fairness (how people interact), and (2) outcome favorability (what they get from the interaction) on people's desire for future interaction and trust. The study built upon this literature by exploring relative status (how people compare their own status to their work colleague's) and relative power (how they compare their own power to their work colleague's) as moderators of the process fairness by outcome favorability interaction. The study extended previous research by looking at the three-way interaction in a different context from that of prior studies, and by looking at power as a possible moderator of the process by outcome interaction in the same context. Furthermore, the study explored several possible reasons why status moderates the interactive relationship between outcome favorability and process fairness. The research questions were examined in a correlational study using a simulated negotiation exercise with participants from an aspiring school leadership academy. Results show the replication of the three-way interaction of status, process fairness, and outcome favorability found in previous studies and also new empirical evidence of a similar three-way interaction between power, process fairness, and outcome favorability not found previously. Specifically, the results found that for people of lower status (and lower power), high process fairness reduced the positive effect of high outcome favorability on both desire for future interactions and trust. For people of higher status (and higher power), high process fairness heightened the effect of outcome favorability. Further analyses showed that it was status, more than power that was responsible for moderating the process by outcome interaction. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as are limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.